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“Christ.” I growl and grip her bare ass, lifting her higher against me. “I should bend you over my knee for that.”

“I was hoping I’d be rewarded.” Then she’s sliding down my body, dropping to her knees without another word. Her fingers work my belt buckle with frustrating ease, then my zipper. My rock hard dick springs free, aching and already leaking for her.

Her eyes flicker up to meet mine and I fist my hand in her hair, not gentle anymore.

Her mouth is heat and skill—sucking, licking, taking me deep until my knees threaten to buckle. I watch, mesmerized, as she works me over, her lips stretched around my girth. Every sound she makes goes straight to my dick.

“Clara, my sweet, sexy girl,” I rasp, hauling her up by her arms and crushing my mouth to hers. We kiss like we’re fighting, or drowning. “I need to be inside you.”

“God, yes, Ryder,” she pants, clinging to my shoulders.

I force myself to stop. To think. “I don’t have a condom but I’m clean.”

She stares at me, dazed, legs wrapped around my waist and then she kisses me hard enough to steal the air from my lungs. “I’m good. I’m clean. I’m yours. Fuck me, Ryder.”

A sound rips out of me—raw possession—and that is it.

My hand cups her cheek, my thumb stroking the soft skin there. I guide her gently back onto the mattress. “If anything is too much, or if you need to stop for any reason, just tap my arm. Tap it three times so I know you understand.”

I wait, my gaze soft on hers. Clara’s smile is a sunrise. “Okay.”

“My good girl.”

Our eyes stay connected as I lean down and press a trail of kisses from her lips, down the column of her throat, over her collarbone, until my mouth finds the swell of her breast. I take her nipple into my mouth with a tender suckle, and her back arches not in shock, but in offering. A soft sigh escapes her. I’ve never been so consumed by need for another person—not just her body, but the trust she places in me, the soul she lets me see.

“You’re so beautiful, Clara.” My hand moves to her other breast, caressing as my lips worship what they find. “Look at you. Here with me. Letting me love you like this.”

A tremor runs through her as I continue kissing down her torso until I rest between her thighs. I look up at her for a moment, overcome by how sacred this feels. Slowly, I press one finger inside her, then another, curling them gently as she gasps.

“You feel like heaven,” I whisper against her skin.

“Ryder,” she breathes.

“I love my name on your lips.”

I lower my head and kiss the inside of her thigh before tasting her slowly, reverently. “You’re so sweet, Clara. Perfect.”

Her breathing quickens as her fingers slide into my hair, not gripping but holding, as though I’m something precious. A smile touches my lips; I love how sure she is in this moment, how openly she receives me.

My hands glide up along her sides until they cradle her breasts. “Show me what you like, sweetheart. Take what you need.” Her hips rise to meet my mouth as she cries out, and I hold her through it until she stills.

Once she catches her breath, I rise up and frame her face with my hands. “You amaze me.” I brush my thumb over her lower lip. “Open for me?”

Clara opens her mouth willingly and I slip two fingers inside, letting her taste herself. “You’re everything to me,” I tell her softly. “Every part of you is a gift.”

She kisses my fingers tenderly, and my heart aches with how much I love her.

She looks peaceful and sated, but a part of me still needs to hear it. This woman makes my world make sense. Holding her like this—it’s terrifying and exhilarating all at once because it matters so much.

No one has ever reached into me like Clara does. She isn’t a high or an addiction—she’s a revelation. The reason every moment before her felt dimly lit.

I clear my throat softly, taking in her glowing skin and tousled hair. Even now, she takes my breath away. “Was that alright? Tell me what you felt.”

Clara’s smile is soft but certain. “It was perfect. You’re perfect.”

I search her eyes in the quiet that follows, our silence its own kind of conversation.

“How do you want me to love you?” I ask finally.